'Airplane mode' no more? FAA considers lifting its ban on electronics

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Last fall, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that commercial pilots would be adopting a new form of in-flight technology, courtesy of the iPad -- which raised the eyebrows of passengers, who have been continuously told that a single device that sends of transmits a signal could end in the fiery of thousands as their Facebook check-in managed to single-handedly bungle any and all navigational systems. Now, the New York Times reports, the strict administration is considering lifting the ban on iPads and other electronic devices...because there's still no proof that they even remotely disturb the instruments required to fly an airplane.

An industry group has called for the F.A.A to offer concrete proof as to why reading devices and other electronics, which transmit very low signals, may be dangerous during commercial flights.

Nick Bilton at the Times has this to say:

One member of the group and an official of the F.A.A., both of whom asked for anonymity because they were not allowed to speak publicly about internal discussions, said the agency was under tremendous pressure to let people use reading devices on planes, or to provide solid scientific evidence why they cannot.

The agency reportedly hopes to make a final decision about "airplane mode" before the end of the year.